Seven-year-old Everett from Tallahassee, Florida, wants to know why we refer to a scrape or other minor injury as a boo-boo. Such reduplication of words and syllables is common in baby talk used to soothe a child. Also, boo-boo sounds a little like...
Skyscraper makes literal sense once you picture a head scraping the sky, the image Alice in Carlsbad, California saw when comparing herself with her cat. Before it meant a tall building, skyscraper referred to the topmost sail on a sailing ship...
Gradoo, also spelled as gradu, means miscellaneous dirt, sludge, grit, or other gunk you’d rather not step in. Reed in Madison, Wisconsin, grew up hearing it in Louisiana from both English and Cajun French speakers. Its origin is uncertain, but one...
A Texas listener recounts an ongoing debate in her family’s kitchen over the exact definition of the word spatula. Is it the kitchen tool used to spread icing and level measuring cups? Something you use to flip a pancake? That item with the plastic...
hooking n.— «Rubs (in Vermont, they are frequently referred to as “hookings”) and scrapes are signposts for other deer that a buck has passed through or is holding up, nearby, in the area.» —“Examining the three Ps of deer hunting” by Dennis...
witness mark n.— «There may be witness marks (scrapes and gouges) on the road surface that may suggest a post-impact movement of a vehicle.» —by George A. Peters, Barbara J. Peters Automotive Vehicle Safety Dec., 2002. (source: Double-Tongued...
